• About
  • Advertise
  • Careers
  • Contact
Thursday, January 21, 2021
Thursday, January 21, 2021
East African Business Diary
  • Login
  • Home
  • World
  • Business
  • Tech

    Trending Tags

    • Sillicon Valley
    • Climate Change
    • Election Results
    • Flat Earth
    • Golden Globes
    • MotoGP 2017
    • Mr. Robot
  • Entertainment
    • All
    • Music
    • Sports
    Country Music Icon Kenny Rogers Dies at 81

    Country Music Icon Kenny Rogers Dies at 81

    Communications specialist Barry Otieno takes over as FKF acting CEO

    Communications specialist Barry Otieno takes over as FKF acting CEO

    Airtel adamant to shut down betting paybills

    Airtel adamant to shut down betting paybills

    Bob Collymore: The incredible efforts towards sports sector commendable

    Bob Collymore: The incredible efforts towards sports sector commendable

    AFCON 2019 Group ny Group Analysis (C & D)

    AFCON 2019: Group C and D Analysis

    AFCON 2019: Group by Group Analysis (A & B)

    AFCON 2019: Group by Group Analysis (A & B)

  • Politics
  • Science
  • Lifestyle
    • All
    • food
    • Health
    • Travel
    Jambojet launches Progressive Web App to improve customers’ convenience

    Jambojet launches Progressive Web App to improve customers’ convenience

    How to register with Catch Taxi as a driver

    How to register with Catch Taxi as a driver

    This is why you need a travel Insurance

    This is why you need a travel Insurance

    Innovators Mobilize to Help Developing Countries Combat COVID-19

    Innovators Mobilize to Help Developing Countries Combat COVID-19

    6 ways on how to care for each other during the COVID-19 pandemic

    6 ways on how to care for each other during the COVID-19 pandemic

    AfDB approves $1.5 million emergency grant to curb desert locusts ravaging East and Horn of Africa

    AfDB approves $1.5 million emergency grant to curb desert locusts ravaging East and Horn of Africa

    COVID-19 has exposed the fragility of our economies

    COVID-19 has exposed the fragility of our economies

    SAP offers free checklists to prepare for Covid-19 through Ruum app

    SAP offers free checklists to prepare for Covid-19 through Ruum app

    Secrets to unlocking your TIKTOK potential

    Secrets to unlocking your TIKTOK potential

    One on One with Dr. Ademola Olajide, Kenya Representative United Nations Populations Fund (UNFPA)

    One on One with Dr. Ademola Olajide, Kenya Representative United Nations Populations Fund (UNFPA)

    Trending Tags

    • Golden Globes
    • Mr. Robot
    • MotoGP 2017
    • Climate Change
    • Flat Earth
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • World
  • Business
  • Tech

    Trending Tags

    • Sillicon Valley
    • Climate Change
    • Election Results
    • Flat Earth
    • Golden Globes
    • MotoGP 2017
    • Mr. Robot
  • Entertainment
    • All
    • Music
    • Sports
    Country Music Icon Kenny Rogers Dies at 81

    Country Music Icon Kenny Rogers Dies at 81

    Communications specialist Barry Otieno takes over as FKF acting CEO

    Communications specialist Barry Otieno takes over as FKF acting CEO

    Airtel adamant to shut down betting paybills

    Airtel adamant to shut down betting paybills

    Bob Collymore: The incredible efforts towards sports sector commendable

    Bob Collymore: The incredible efforts towards sports sector commendable

    AFCON 2019 Group ny Group Analysis (C & D)

    AFCON 2019: Group C and D Analysis

    AFCON 2019: Group by Group Analysis (A & B)

    AFCON 2019: Group by Group Analysis (A & B)

  • Politics
  • Science
  • Lifestyle
    • All
    • food
    • Health
    • Travel
    Jambojet launches Progressive Web App to improve customers’ convenience

    Jambojet launches Progressive Web App to improve customers’ convenience

    How to register with Catch Taxi as a driver

    How to register with Catch Taxi as a driver

    This is why you need a travel Insurance

    This is why you need a travel Insurance

    Innovators Mobilize to Help Developing Countries Combat COVID-19

    Innovators Mobilize to Help Developing Countries Combat COVID-19

    6 ways on how to care for each other during the COVID-19 pandemic

    6 ways on how to care for each other during the COVID-19 pandemic

    AfDB approves $1.5 million emergency grant to curb desert locusts ravaging East and Horn of Africa

    AfDB approves $1.5 million emergency grant to curb desert locusts ravaging East and Horn of Africa

    COVID-19 has exposed the fragility of our economies

    COVID-19 has exposed the fragility of our economies

    SAP offers free checklists to prepare for Covid-19 through Ruum app

    SAP offers free checklists to prepare for Covid-19 through Ruum app

    Secrets to unlocking your TIKTOK potential

    Secrets to unlocking your TIKTOK potential

    One on One with Dr. Ademola Olajide, Kenya Representative United Nations Populations Fund (UNFPA)

    One on One with Dr. Ademola Olajide, Kenya Representative United Nations Populations Fund (UNFPA)

    Trending Tags

    • Golden Globes
    • Mr. Robot
    • MotoGP 2017
    • Climate Change
    • Flat Earth
No Result
View All Result
East African Business Diary
No Result
View All Result
Home Lifestyle Health

COVID-19 has exposed the fragility of our economies

by Editorial
April 5, 2020
in Health, Opinion
COVID-19 has exposed the fragility of our economies

Guy Ryder Director General International Labour Organization

Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

The human dimensions of the COVID-19 pandemic reach far beyond the critical health response. All aspects of our future will be affected – economic, social and developmental. Our response must be urgent, coordinated and on a global scale, and should immediately deliver help to those most in need.

From workplaces, to enterprises, to national and global economies, getting this right is predicated on social dialogue between governments and those on the front line – the employers and workers. So that the 2020s don’t become a re-run of the 1930s.

ILO estimates are that as many as 25 million people could become unemployed, with a loss of workers’ income of as much as USD 3.4 trillion. However, it is already becoming clear that these numbers may underestimate the magnitude of the impact.

This pandemic has mercilessly exposed the deep faultlines in our labour markets. Enterprises of all sizes have already stopped operations, cut working hours and laid off staff. Many are teetering on the brink of collapse as shops and restaurants close, flights and hotel bookings are cancelled, and businesses shift to remote working. Often the first to lose their jobs are those whose employment was already precarious – sales clerks, waiters, kitchen staff, baggage handlers and cleaners.

In a world where only one in five people are eligible for unemployment benefits, layoffs spell catastrophe for millions of families. Because paid sick leave is not available to many carers and delivery workers – those we all now rely on – they are often under pressure to continue working even if they are ill. In the developing world, piece-rate workers, day labourers and informal traders may be similarly pressured by the need to put food on the table. We will all suffer because of this. It will not only increase the spread of the virus but in the longer-term dramatically amplify cycles of poverty and inequality.

We have a chance to save millions of jobs and enterprises, if governments act decisively to ensure business continuity, prevent layoffs and protect vulnerable workers. We should have no doubt that the decisions they take today will determine the health of our societies and economies for years to come.

Unprecedented, expansionary fiscal and monetary policies are essential to prevent the current headlong downturn from becoming a prolonged recession. We must make sure that people have enough money in their pockets to make it to the end of the week – and the next. This means ensuring that enterprises — the source of income for millions of workers — can remain afloat during the sharp downturn and so are positioned to restart as soon as conditions allow. In particular, tailored measures will be needed for the most vulnerable workers, including the self-employed, part-time workers and those in temporary employment, who may not qualify for unemployment or health insurance and who are harder to reach.

As governments try to flatten the upward curve of infection, we need special measures to protect the millions of health and care workers (most of them women) who risk their own health for us every day. Truckers and seafarers, who deliver medical equipment and other essentials, must be adequately protected. Teleworking offers new opportunities for workers to keep working, and employers to continue their businesses through the crisis. However, workers must be able to negotiate these arrangements so that they retain balance with other responsibilities, such as caring for children, the sick or the elderly, and of course themselves.

Many countries have already introduced unprecedented stimulus packages to protect their societies and economies and keep cash flowing to workers and businesses. To maximise the effectiveness of those measures it is essential for governments to work with employers’ organizations and trade unions to come up with practical solutions, which keep people safe and to protect jobs.

These measures include income support, wage subsidies and temporary layoff grants for those in more formal jobs, tax credits for the self-employed, and financial support for businesses.

But as well as strong domestic measures, decisive multilateral action must be a key stone of a global response to a global enemy. The G20’s virtual Extraordinary Summit on the Covid-19 response on 26 March is an opportunity to get this coordinated response going.

In these most difficult of times, I recall a principle set out in the ILO’s Constitution: Poverty anywhere remains a threat to prosperity everywhere. It reminds us that, in years to come, the effectiveness of our response to this existential threat may be judged not just by the scale and speed of the cash injections, or whether the recovery curve is flat or steep, but by what we did for the most vulnerable among us.

By Guy Ryder, Director-General, International Labour Organization

Distributed by  African Media Agency (AMA) on behalf of The International Labour Organization (ILO).

Tags: Covid-19
Editorial

Editorial

Next Post
AfDB approves $1.5 million emergency grant to curb desert locusts ravaging East and Horn of Africa

AfDB approves $1.5 million emergency grant to curb desert locusts ravaging East and Horn of Africa

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recommended

One on One with IHRM CEO and Chairman (Interviewed by Caroline Theuri)

One on One with IHRM CEO and Chairman (Interviewed by Caroline Theuri)

1 year ago
The Shilling is Weak, but CBK Downplays the Concern

The Shilling is Weak, but CBK Downplays the Concern

2 years ago

Popular News

    Connect with us

    About Us

    East African Business Diary

    Web bring you the latest news in Business.

    Newsletter

    Get daily news snippets. Subscribe to our Newsletter

    SUBSCRIBE

    • About
    • Advertise
    • Careers
    • Contact

    © 2020 By Teddy Leting - Powered by Afritech Media.

    No Result
    View All Result
    • Home
    • Politics
    • World
    • Business
    • Science
    • National
    • Entertainment
    • Gaming
    • Movie
    • Music
    • Sports
    • Fashion
    • Lifestyle
    • Travel
    • Tech
    • Health
    • Food

    © 2020 By Teddy Leting - Powered by Afritech Media.

    Welcome Back!

    Login to your account below

    Forgotten Password?

    Create New Account!

    Fill the forms bellow to register

    All fields are required. Log In

    Retrieve your password

    Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

    Log In
    WP2Social Auto Publish Powered By : XYZScripts.com
    Are you sure want to unlock this post?
    Unlock left : 0
    Are you sure want to cancel subscription?